If you are reading my blog on the day it actually posts to Des Moines is Not Boring, then it is my birthday. As is the tradition in my family on someone’s birthday, instead of sending birthday cards, we deliver a birthday beer. My brother started the tradition years ago and it has stuck. Birthday cards get recycled (or worse, stuck in a shoe box never to be looked at again). Birthday beers get drank and are far more appreciated than a card ever would be. My family very much appreciates beer.
It is completely appropriate then that my birthday officially kicks off Des Moines Beer Week. Ok, according to the Des Moines Beer Week folks technically my birthday does NOT kick off Des Moines Beer Week. They have indicated that Des Moines Beer Week actually starts on June 14th (this coming Sunday). But I find it hard to believe that a week celebrating beer in Des Moines just happens to fall within the same timeframe as I celebrate my birthday with a beer in Des Moines. Coincidence, I think not!
Seriously though, Des Moines Beer Week begins this Sunday and I am super excited to be able to participate in this year’s celebration. If you remember last year, for the inaugural Des Moines Beer Week, I was eight months pregnant. Des Moines Beer Week seemed to be a cruel joke at my expense. But lucky for me it was not a joke and it has returned in 2015 with a full slate of events celebrating “the Des Moines area’s growing craft beer scene.”
Now I am still a mother of three children, so my ability to participate in a lot of these events is somewhat hampered. But over the course of seven days a whole lot of beer-centric activities are being planned in the Des Moines area. I won’t list them all here (complete list), but I want to call out a few that I will either be attending or that I wish I could attend.
On Sunday the 14th at Exile Brewing Company, you can attend a free yoga class and your first beer is free. As one who loves to combine running with beer, I applaud any effort to combine physical activity with beer as your reward.
Also on Sunday, the Des Moines Beer Week Kick-Off party will be held at El Bait Shop from 1:00 to 5:00 PM. In addition to 180 tap beers already available at El Bait Shop on a regular basis, the 2015 Des Moines Beer Week Collaboration Beer, created by Des Moines area brewers, will be tapped. I won’t be able to get there on the 14th, but this is a beer I have to try.
The Cheese Shop is hosting a Cheese and Beer Pairing on Monday the 15th at 6 PM. Finally! A variety of beers from Stone Brewing will be available and paired logically with some fabulous Cheese Shop cheese.
On Thursday, there are simply too many beer activities scheduled to mention them all! 515 is hosting Mancraft, a dude-centric shopping/beer-drinking experience. A Beer Dinner is planned at Coda Lounge, hosted by Iowa Pints author, J. Wilson, and featuring beers from West O and New American Brewing. A Peace Tree Beer Dinner is planned at Table 128. Bike from Orlando’s Bar and Grill to the Cumming Tap during the Fat Tire Fun Ride. Or go to Flix Brewhouse to view “Blood, Sweat & Beer”, a documentary about the craft beer industry and its recent growth. This is a film I am going to have to see soon!
Friday night at Confluence Brewing Company, the Iowa Craft Brew Festival Warm-Up Party starts at 8
PM with a number of the festival’s participating brewers expected to attend. Talk to the brewers and enjoy a Confluence beer!
The week culminates with the actual Iowa Craft Beer Festival from 1-5 PM on the Court Avenue Bridge. With 39 different Iowa craft breweries in attendance, here is your opportunity to taste a beer from pretty much any Iowa brewery you would like! VIP tickets are sold out (I already got mine), but GA tickets are still available through Tikly. It’s an awesome day for beer and specifically Iowa beer in Des Moines.
So happy birthday to me! I celebrated last Saturday with a few close friends and family. I will celebrate today with my husband and children. And I will continue my celebration for the next week and a half as I enjoy craft beer during Des Moines Beer Week 2015. I am glad to see Des Moines celebrating the way my family does, with a beer!
